ARJS Choshu Tournament Winner

This time, Fukiko, Daz, and Shunpei participated. The Choshu tournament is a two-day stage race.

Fukiko and Daz were participating for the first time, and without their main navigator Hiroki, they were a little nervous as they flew and rented a car to the venue. Yamaguchi felt it was dangerous because the heat was greater than he had expected.

After distributing maps and explaining the competition, we had a strategy meeting.

On the first day, we did a lot of climbing on our mountain bikes, went down and did some impersonations, did some rogering on the mountain, and then returned on our mountain bikes.

Even though the start time was 3pm, it was so hot that it seemed like heat protection would be important. "It doesn't look like we'll be doing much bushwhacking, so let's take them off. We'll wear bibs, so we'll be naked on top." Fukikodazu wore a Finetrack innerwear and bib, while Shunpei wore a naked bib. Fukiko also decided to wear her motorcycle inner pants. Normally it would seem strange to wear underwear from top to bottom... but we had no choice. (But this would later prove to be a good idea, not just for protection against the heat.) We carried the pants and T-shirts we had taken off to protect ourselves from the bushes on our backs, and put on shin pads and shoe gaiters made by our company.

We all started at 3pm. East Wind (Masato Tanaka, Tecchan, Yonchan) jumped out and asked if we should just follow them, but we soon came to a fork in the road and decided to go in different directions, so we trusted our own navigation and continued on.

We started to climb the mountain pass and passed B Kemono-michi, who was in front of us and had stopped to prepare for towing, but he quickly passed us again. He started to climb at a great speed. Fukiko was being towed by Daz and we could see the back of B Kemono-michi, but the road started to collapse and the rocky areas started to increase, making it increasingly difficult to ride. The gap between us kept widening.

This time, it would be difficult to carry mountain bikes on the long journey, so all three of us decided to rent one, but the rental bike was heavier than ours...I regretted it, but there was nothing I could do.

The rocky road ended, and we continued to climb again. This time, Shunpei started to fall behind, so Daz had to pull him along. Finally, the long climb was over.

At CP2-5, you can leave your mountain bikes anywhere and go back to pick them up, so each team had a different strategy. We rode our mountain bikes to near CP2 and took CP2 and 3 on a round trip. We saw East Wind and were surprised to see that it was close by, which boosted our morale. We were able to punch through 3 before B Game Trail and got cocky. We refueled at the aid station and headed to CP4 wondering where to leave our mountain bikes, when we came across a nice looking forest road that wasn't on the map. We were drawn to it and tried to ride our mountain bikes as far as the area, but the road didn't go as we had hoped and we lost track. By the time we reached 5, there was no sign of East Wind or B Game Trail left.

Having comfortably descended on her mountain bike, it was time for the most difficult impersonation moment. She had to impersonate the person she had drawn from a lottery and make the staff laugh. The person she drew was "Sugi-chan." She could picture the person's appearance, but without really understanding what it meant, Fukiko started the impersonation. A while after she started impersonating, Daz told her his catchphrase, "Wild, right?" That's it!! But the staff showed no sign of laughing. She got a laugh when she said, "Today, I'm practically wearing underwear. Wild, right?"

We climbed a little further on our bikes to CP8. We got a new map and trekked from cp9-12. It was completely dark, but we were doing pretty well, and all we had to do was climb a little further and head to the goal! The heat continued into the night, so we cooled our heads and refreshed ourselves by going to the river.

When I arrived at the finish line just before 9pm, East Wind and B Kemonomichi were there after taking a bath. I was disappointed that I was quite far behind, but there was still tomorrow. I ate a lot of delicious curry and went to sleep to recover, but my body was too hot to fall asleep.

On the second day, it was hot even at 5am, and I was prepared to fight the heat again today. On the second day, there was a lot to do, with people choosing their favorite vehicle such as kayak, MTB, kayak, fishing, or SUP, and going to the underwater CP to reach the goal.

We all started at 6:30. We made a good start and took the lead. Our team was in a three-person sit-on-top kayak, but the team that brought their own boat was in a sea kayak. After a while, East Wind, a group of three single sea kayaks, was behind us. Tanaka-san was right behind our boat, smiling and saying "That's nice, it's easy." It seemed like Tetchan had an accident behind us and left us, but it was fun rowing with Tanaka-san.

I passed the first sea kayak section in first place. I changed to a mountain bike and went through the town with its many ups and downs. I was overtaken by East Wind and soon disappeared from sight.

In the team challenge CP where you have to guess the flavor of gelato, you get a bonus if you guess three flavors of gelato. However, it's quite difficult. I got basil and corn right, but there's one more... I answered "sugarcane?" but it was wrong. The correct answer was Japanese knotweed. Can you guess it?!

We pulled ourselves together, had a face-in-the-sign contest, and then headed back to where we'd parked our kayaks, taking a few CPs along the way.

The next kayak is a long one. The wind is a little stronger and it gets more difficult, but Shunpei is reading the wind and swells at the front, and Daz is reading the map and using the rudder behind, and they move forward with no wasted lines. Shunpei's paddling is top-notch, and I'm amazed at how he paddles in line with the waves and how he makes paddle movements I've never seen before, even just a little sweep.

As expected, we paddled from CP25 to CP26 in an hour and a half, and then headed to the fishing CP! East Wind had already started fishing, so the difference was about 7 minutes. If I could catch a fish first, I might win on the second day?! We took turns, but he just ate the bait and didn't catch anything at all. East Wind was also struggling, and we both used up our 20 minutes and headed to the next CP, so the difference remained the same.

Next, we chose whatever water activity we wanted, such as SUP, mega SUP, small kayak, or mysterious vehicle, and went to a point 200m away where there was a CP underwater. Shunpei's advice that paddling a SUP with a double blade was the fastest, so we chose a SUP and a double blade paddle and set off. We found the CP with our snorkels and were about to punch it, but then we realized we hadn't brought our punch card! All three of us had misunderstood... We hurried back to get the punch card. We started to get nervous, wondering if the B animal trail we could see in the distance was coming. On the first day, we were about 30 minutes ahead of each other, so we wanted to somehow make up 30 minutes and reach the goal.

Finally, I changed to a kayak and paddled a little to reach the finish line. I was starting to get tired of paddling, but I paddled as hard as I could until the end.

We waited anxiously for the finish line of B Kemono-michi while playing on the beach at the finish line, using snorkels and renting Eastwind sea kayaks. (Mr. Tanaka's sea kayaking instruction for the trainees was really kind and Buddha-like. We listened closely and tried to help him.)

B Kemonomichi hasn't come even after 30 minutes. Well, I'm not sure yet because Nagai might have guessed the gelato (10 minutes will be subtracted if he does). I've been waiting for 40 minutes and he still hasn't come, so does this mean he's the winner?! (East Wind is a team of 3 men, so there is no ranking)

In the end, he made up the difference from the first day with a kayak and won the championship. But in the end, I guess there was a difference of just under an hour between East Wind and the Tokyo Bay?

At the social gathering, we had some incredibly delicious sashimi, sumptuous meals, and lots of delicious alcohol. Even though there was no time limit, the alcohol permeated my dry body and I died instantly. How frustrating!!

I had heard rumors about it, but the Choshu tournament is far away, but the course is really interesting, and the hospitality at the after-party was the best. I want to go again next year! (There was a staff member who said they would babysit at the social gathering!) Maybe next year I'll take my family to the tournament?!